How I Sell Books on Amazon

 How do I make money on Amazon selling books?

The million dollar question that many ask me. All of 2014 I have enjoyed some success on Amazon with my four books listed on the site. I sell over 250 Kindle e-books along with a few paperbacks each month. Consequently, several authors have asked me how I do it. Let me say I was a bit naïve by this and thought my sales were typical for authors on the site. I’ve since learned that this is not the case. Most authors make next to nothing in sales, which surprised me. I don’t know any magic formula to give you, but I can tell you what works for me and hopefully pass on some important info.

Amazon is my friend.

Amazon is designed for you to sell books. Three of my titles are on something called Amazon Select, and, as a result, are my best-sellers. My zombie novel Undead Flesh had a great run on Amazon, but when the sales started to dip, I naturally thought it was time to take it off Amazon Select and release it to other sites. Big Mistake. I've sold 14 books in one year on other sites. Because it is not longer exclusively on Amazon, it doesn't qualify for the Select heading, and it is reflected in the sales. I sell about 10 a month now. The other three books are on Amazon Select and do earn the most royalties. Plus the service offers marketing options you can use to promote your book. I can keep track of how many and where my books sell on a daily basis, and they pay my royalties in my bank account each month.

I took control of my books.

First, I’m a self-published writer and can’t speak about those published through small or large publishers. Being self-published gives me complete control over my books from the cover, description, text, marketing, etc.  It’s all on my shoulders, and the royalties are mine to collect. Amazon offers 70% royalties back on most books, and I currently make around 500 dollars a month. I know that’s not making me rich, but it is a nice supplemental income.  It wasn’t always this way. I put out my first two books through a POD (print on demand) publisher. As a result, they gave me crappy covers and jacked up the price to where no one would buy them. I was lucky if I sold ten a month. When it came time to release my third book, a zombie novel titled Undead Flesh, I had learned enough to try publishing it through CreateSpace. The result was an immediate spike in sales as reflected on the chart below:

In one month, I sold over 450 copies and made almost a thousand dollars in royalties. After a few months, sales started to dip for my zombie novel, so I decided to take control of my other two books, 13 Nightmares and Ebon Moon. I pulled those titles from the POD publisher and rereleased them with better covers. It was a smart move. The chart above shows the steady monthly sales I’ve enjoyed from that point on.

I try to write something somebody wants to read.

A no-brainer, but oh so true. Amazon is awash with terribly written books. I want my book to rise above the morass. If you don’t have a good story, there are no marketing tricks or cover art that will save your book. Books sell by word of mouth, especially in these times of rampant social media. I’m a firm believer in the cream rising to the top. My book that has the best sales is 13 Nightmares, a collection of horror shorts. I sell over a hundred Kindle copies each month. Why? It fills a need for the reader, and everyone loves a good creepy story. Find a niche for your book and fill it with something people want to read. Hook your reader from the start. Sweep them into the story and have them hang on like ticket holders on a wild roller-coaster ride.

I try to know my readers.

Many writers are more concerned with publishers, agents, editors, etc., and that's all good, but what about the actual people who are going to buy their books?  I reverse the paradigm. I write for the readers first. Why? Because it is they who will plunk down their hard-earned money and give up hours of their time to read my latest book. When I write a book, I have one person in mind that reflects my market.  This person doesn't even have to have a name. It could be someone I met at a convention, or at a book signing, but he or she is indicative of the demographic I'm trying to reach. I write for that one person in my head and imagine this person reading the story as I type each paragraph. You might say they are my invisible muse.

Expose yourself.

I'm not talking about getting yourself arrested. What I mean is get out there and let readers know you're a writer. It took me a little while to reach this concept: I'm not just selling books, I'm also selling myself as an author. Writers are introverts as a rule. It comes with the territory. Too many sit at home and hope the eager reader will come knocking on their door and introduce themselves. The truth is readers want to connect to a favorite author, but can't if you aren't willing to connect with them. How do you do this? Social media, of course, is an excellent way, but be smart about it. Instead of constantly posting a link to your book and begging people to buy it on Facebook, Twitter, etc. will get you nowhere. Try to talk about you as a writer, your progress on current projects, events, book signings, etc. Admittedly, I’m not the best at social media and maintaining an author platform, but I have another way I connect to the reader. I’m a convention junkie. I go to many sci-fi and horror conventions. I love talking to people who drop by my vendor table. The face-to-face interaction helps sells my books and in turn me as an author. Even if I don’t make great sales at the convention, I always have a bump in online sales after it is over. Plus I can write it off on my taxes.

There it is. My secret to making sales on Amazon in a nutshell. I hope this answers some of your questions or inspires you to not give up and keep writing. I know it's idealistic to say, but I want everyone to succeed as a writer.

Underground Monster Carnival 3

The Zombie Pope is hungry!

Halloween may happen on Oct. 31, but it's revisited again on the first Saturday of March. That's when something amazing happens in Oklahoma City. It's the Underground Monster Carnival hosted by Art and Stephenie Sunday! This single day event is not your regular horror convention with fans standing in lines to get autographs from movie and television celebrities. It's more of an arts and crafts show for the horror freak. The large building is packed full of vendors carrying everything from spooky-themed clothing, paintings, jewelry, books etc.

My table at the event.

Happy to pick up the entire Trilogy of Terror.

It's a place where the fan can come and hobnob with independent artists, authors, performers, and craft makers. Even with the threat of a winter storm looming, the they lined up to get inside the show. Each year it get's bigger with more people showing up. UMC is also a great time for me to connect with fans of my books and to meet new readers as well.. I spent all day talking to people and informing them about my books and upcoming projects.

The lovely Anjanette Clewis
completes her collection of my books.

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The most amazing thing about this year's show was the costumes. They were simply wonderful.  Definitely more cos players this year than any show before. Here is only a small sampling of what was at the event.

Do you need any better reason to attend UMC?

 What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon then with incredible fans? Kudos to Art and Stephenie and all those who helped put on a great show. They are keeping horror alive and well in Oklahoma.  Can't wait till next year.

Self Publishing: the Do's and Don'ts

I recently saw a front-page newspaper article in my hometown about a sixteen-year-old girl who had her first book published. When I read more of the story I came to realize her book was self-published. Don't get me wrong. It's quite a feat for a teenage girl to finish writing a book, or anyone for that matter. It took me until I was over 50 years old to finish writing one. But being published is not an incredible feat anymore. Anyone can publish a book. If your reading this blog you can write something and have it up on Amazon for sale within a week. It's that easy. But there's a catch. Just because you wrote it, doesn't mean you can sell it. That's where so many authors sail their ships into the murky waters of  self-publishing and break apart on the reefs of disappointment when it comes to their hopes for their books. I've had writers contact me and ask how do you do it? How do you get readers to buy your books or write a review? I wish I had a magic formula I could give them, but I don't. I do know through experience three things your book is going to need to survive in the piranha-infested waters of the publishing world. These I will list below:

STORY: It sounds stupid to say this, but if you don't have a good story, you've shot yourself in the foot before you even enter the race as an author. Rightfully so, I might add. Your a writer so write something that someone wants to read. Hook the reader from the first paragraph.We live in an age with more distractions than ever to keep someone from reading your story. Netflix, Facebook, X Box, etc. they are all competing for your reader's time. Know your audience and give them something they want. Make them want to give up hours of their time to curl up with your book or sit in the glow of their electronic reader. How do you do that? I can't tell you. That's something your going to have to learn through experience and writing. However, I can suggest that you clearly define the genre your book falls under. If your novel is about ghosts, then make sure it is defined as such in its search keywords. It can be a radical new take on a ghost story and have very little to do with a haunting, but when the potential reader types "ghost story" in his search menu you want your book to come up. Wallah! A potential sale!

EDITING: This is where a lot of self-pub authors stub their toes and fall. You can't edit your work. Sorry. This is one thing that the Traditional publishing get's right. You got to have your work edited by a professional. Yes, it's expensive, but you are investing in yourself as a writer. If your not willing to make the investment then don't expect the reader to invest in you. If your work is riddled with typos you are going to hear it from your readers in the form a bad reviews and 1 Star ratings. This is the death-knell for self-published work. Kindle has a refund policy for their books. A reader can refund it up to one week after purchasing it. If your work is amateurish or poorly written it's going to reflect in your refunds. If you can't afford at least basic Copy Editing then send your book to a traditional publisher and try your luck. Too many self-published authors post their unedited crap online. It gives us all a bad name. Get your work edited. You'll love what a professional will do to make your prose shine. So will your readers.

COVER: This is another area where a lot of self-published authors fall short. They wrap their great story in a crappy cover. Nothing speaks amateur writer more then a poor cover. You can't judge a book by its cover, but readers do when searching for something to read. A good cover gets your foot in the door when convincing a reader to purchase your book.  Find you a professional to do your cover. It may run you a couple hundred dollars, but it is worth it. Again it is an investment in you as a book publisher, because that is what you are if you self publish. Make the cover rock!

You follow these three rules and you got a step up on all the floundering self-published authors drowning in a morass of poor sales and low readership. I hope this article helps you in your quest to be a better writer. It's a brave new world out there. The door is open for you to become a selling author like never before in history. The internet changed everything and there is unparallelled freedom for you to succeed. Now get out there and write something. 

Floating on the Amazon

I'm a self published author. There I said it. Five years ago when I published my first book 13 Nightmares it was akin to saying I'm a talentless hack. First of all this is not my first go around at self-publishing. In the early 90's I published my own role playing game system and marketed myself. I wasn't interested in letting anyone else publish my game. It was mine and I had control over it. Still do. When I jumped into publishing my first book I realized that self-publishing was the bastard stepchild of the publishing world. I heard nothing good about it. Published writers said I would be destroying my writing career. or that no one would buy my books. I've been to writer conferences where they didn't take self published authors seriously. There are sci-fi conventions where they refuse self published authors on panels and writing websites where they don't allow self-pubs into their little clique. The list goes on and on. Some of it is quite laughable. I've heard traditional publishers say we are the "maggots" of the written word or that self-pub is "literary masturbation". Things have changed in five years. That change can be summed up in one word: 

Amazon. 

Not only is Amazon by far the largest seller of books in the world, it is totally geared for self published authors. They charge nothing for you to format and upload your books on their website. The process is easy and quick. You get 70% royalty for your sales, which is unheard of in the traditional publishing world. You are in control over everything from marketing, pricing, and content. You know exactly how your books are selling and you get paid royalties straight into your bank account each month. I decided to skip my POD publisher and upload my zombie novel Undead Flesh straight to Kindle and CreateSpace. It was a smart decision. In one month I made almost a $1000 dollars in royalties while my other two books through the POD publisher did nothing. It was an eye opener for me. I've since taken control of 13 Nightmares and Ebon Moon and re-released under my imprint. Another smart move. Now all three books are working for me. I figured that my average royalty over the last six months is $281 per month and looks good for that number increasing at the end of this month now that I've added the other two books.  It's not bestseller money, but it is very nice supplemental income. I plan on having two more books on the site in the next few months and have them bringing in money as well. Books are money earners on Amazon and the more you have, the more you make in sales.

All this talk of money earned makes it sound like it is the reason why I write. It's not. But it is nice to have some funds coming in to fuel the cost of publishing and life as a part-time writer. I haven't quit my day job which provides me all the needed benefits of retirement, health coverage, dental, etc. The stigma of being a self-published writer isn't over, but its diminished greatly over the last five years. Fortunately, that stigma doesn't apply to readers. I never had one reader who cared if the book was self-published or not. Readers are mostly interested in what the story is about then who is the publisher or editor. I think that's where traditional publishers miss the mark. Traditional publishers are more focused on distribution and shelf-life of a book than who reads it. Self-pub authors appeal directly to the reader and build their readership over time.

Self publishing works for me, but that doesn't mean its for everyone. If you can find someone to publish your work by all means go for it. It's a sweet gig if you can get it. I never really tried.  To me it makes more sense for the Traditional publishing houses to look at authors who prove that they can write and sell books on their own. I think that times are changing and it may very well be a requisite for an author in the future. For me I'm going to continue to float down the Amazon river. I've painted a rosy picture for self-publishing with this blog post, but In my next post I'm going to talk about the problems and pitfalls of self-publishing. Talk to you then.

  

Earthquakes and Zombies

Undead Flesh is my newest novel set in my home state of Oklahoma and takes place after a massive earthquake causes the dead to rise from their graves. At the time of its writing, I had lived in Oklahoma for fifty-five years and never experienced or heard of an earthquake. I only chose one as the catalyst for my zombie apocalypse because it fit with the supernatural theme of the novel. I knew early on I wanted to write a scene where the actual dead crawled out of the ground. Diseased and plague zombies had been done to death (pardon the obvious pun). I had to have the real walking dead in all their maggoty gruesomeness. Originally, Undead Flesh was born out of a Nanowrimo which stands for for National Novel Writing Month. It is a challenge every year for writers to produce a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. I took the challenge, along with my good friend and fellow writer, Tim Baker, and dived right in to start whipping out this tale of Jack Garret fighting to keep his family alive in a zombie-filled apocalyptic world. I had already written two books and it seemed easy enough task to write this one. With only a basic image of how the tale began, and very little else, I plowed into the story letting the words fly off my fingertips as fast as I could write them. One morning, while writing about the earthquake happening to my characters, a real quake struck Oklahoma. It started near Norman and rattled up the state to Tulsa. Where I sat in my writing room, it felt like a large truck had rumbled past the house. I checked on Facebook and saw dozens of posts about the event that just happened. Granted it was not the huge quake described in my book, (thank God) but it gave me the incentive to continue on with the novel. That was over two years ago and Oklahoma has had several earthquakes since then. I didn't complete the Nanowrimo challenge of 50,000 words (I fell 6,000 words short) but the story of Jack Garrett kept dragging me back to the keyboard. It wasn't as easy to write as I thought. It was the story of a man who would walk through a zombie-infested hell to protect his family. It challenged all my skill as a writer and it reached deep into my heart. Now it is done and in just a few short weeks will be available on Amazon for readers to enjoy my little tale of earthquakes and zombies.

Underground Monster Carnival 2

The first Saturday of every March something wicked this way comes to Oklahoma City. It's the Underground Monster Carnival! This great event is an informal gathering of horror vendors, entertainers, and fans put on yearly by Art Sunday and his wife Stephanie. Housed in a building on the state fair grounds, this is a vendor friendly event with lots of space for each person to show their merchandise. As you walk along the multiple exhibit rooms, you'll see an assortment of handmade art, masks, clothing, and books; much of it locally produced. The great Count Gregore serenaded the crowd and there was actually a real carnival sideshow put on by Carnival Epsilon. This daylong event was a great way for me to connect with several fans of my books and to meet new ones. I was also able to promote my upcoming zombie novel Undead Flesh and show off the cover done by Gary Berger at DBG/graphix. This was a very fun day for all. My only complaint was that this event only happens once a year and I have to wait until March for another. 

Why is Killer Bunny smiling?

The lovely Anjanette Clewis

Cool costumes!

Always happy to meet a new fan.

Stopping to visit a foggy graveyard

An Italian movie zombie wanders by

Dennis on Writing

Okay, let me first tell you I'm an independent author, but consider myself a writer first and foremost. The author aspect is secondary. I've been a writer since the age of thirteen, but didn't finish anything substantial until about four years ago with my first collection of short stories titled 13 Nightmares. I've also written a werewolf novel titled Ebon Moon and have just finished two more books ready to be published.This blog post is about how I write and what I've learned about the craft up to this point.This is advice only. Use them as you will. The art of writing is exactly that: an art form. It is subject to the creative imagination of those who express themselves. Everyday I learn something about the craft. Below are my seven tips on writing.

1. Write, write, write, and then write some more: Okay, I know you've heard this a thousand times but I'm going to say it again. You can't be a writer unless you write. Period. Put your butt in a chair and do it. Try to set a time each day to write and stick to it. Write in a room by yourself  free of interruptions. Forget Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, blogs, Netflix, etc. Those things rob you of your writing time. If you're like me, you can only do good work about two to four hours a day anyway. Get your writing out of the way and then spend time doing other things. If you do it everyday, you'll have a 80,000 word manuscript before you know it.

2. Write something your passionate about:  I couldn't be hired to write a story or submission to an anthology unless its something I am passionate about. Don't go through the motions of writing. Do it with passion. Your emotions transfers to the reader. Writer and reader live in a symbiotic state. You want them to feel what you do while writing a piece of fiction. If you feel love, laughter, fear, and excitement while your writing the piece, so will the reader if you do it right. Show no fear. If it's in your heart then set it free in your story.A strong passion for the subject will also drive you to finish your piece of writing.

3. Keep it simple, stupid: Okay so you got a bachelor degree in English and have been through hundreds of creative writing classes and writing courses. Your vocabulary knowledge is incredible and you prove it in your use of long flowery poetic writing. You can write phrases like: 

         Jack shot a quick look out the opaque window to the boulevard below where townspeople scurried along a broken sidewalk trying to find shelter under the halogen glow of a dozen streetlights. Above their heads, thunderous clouds threatened to let loose a powerful downpour over the sleepy municipality of Rockford. Jack turned away from the windowpane and faced the only other occupant in the room. 
         “It’s going to start storming any minute, Sully,” he spoke anxiously."

Though the writing above is functional it can be simplified using the KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) method: 

         Jack glanced out the window. On the broken sidewalk below, people ran for shelter under the glow of halogen streetlights. Thunder crashed over their heads in the dark skies above the town of Rockford. He turned to the room’s other occupant. 
       “It’s going to storm, Sully,” he said.

Okay, this may not be the best example, but I hope you get the idea. Keep your sentences simple and direct. Easy reading is hard writing. Your reaching out to readers who have a thousand other things to occupy their time and you're asking them to put aside their lives to read your book. Streamline your large word count. Wow people with your story, and not your vocabulary. 

4. Passive writing equals passive story telling: Passive writing is a cancer that slips into your prose if your not diligent. It happens to me especially when writing the first draft. To me passive writing turns your reader into a passive participant to your story. It's makes them take one step back from your tale. Give your story an Active Voice. Passive example: 

The zombie was shot in the head by Jack.

Active example:  
 
Jack shot the zombie in the head.

I'm no English expert, but the use of the word "was" above is a sure identifier to me that the sentence is in passive voice. I search through my manuscripts for the word "was" in every sentence and see if I can say it in a more direct way. Other things that are a sure tip off of passive writing using the words "could" a lot in your manuscript. I do this a lot in my rough manuscript:

Example:

Jack could hear a car engine start.

Should be changed to:

Jack heard a car engine start.

Change it out and tighten up your sentence structure.

5. Avoid adverbs like the zombie plague: Drop words ending in -ly. Cut the words quietly, carefully, sadly, loudly, quickly, etc. from your descriptions whenever possible. Replace them with a good adjective. 
Example:

        Jack stealthily walked up to the door and slowly turned the knob. Carefully, he entered the room beyond and heard someone snoring loudly.

This plays into the KISS method listed above. Drop the adverb and write it in a more direct manner.

       Jack eased his way to the door and turned the knob slow to the right. Careful not to make a sound, he entered the room beyond and heard someone's loud snoring."

There you have it. Another note: Use the term "suddenly" very seldom in your manuscript. I tend to use it at certain times, but do so with trepidation..

6. Said is often good enough: In dialogue "said" is often the only term you need to use to describe someone talking. Drop the usage of replied, stated, cried, shouted, answered, etc. if at all possible. A good speech tag can help you identify the person speaking as well. Once you establish the people speaking you can move the conversation between two people with out using any identifiers.Example:

                 “It’s going to storm, Sully,” Jack said.

                “The weatherman reported rain.” Sully frowned. “We’ll just have to work with it.”

                “The storm could hide the fact that we’ve cut the power to the building.”

                “Then it could be to our advantage. Once the power is cut we enter the bank unseen.”

                “Let’s hope.” Jack turned back to staring out the window.

7. Feel the flow, baby: This maybe a little hard to explain but I'm going to give a shot at it. There's a certain flow to your prose. A rhythm that keeps the reader engaged as they go from one sentence to the next. If the flow is proper the reader's eye moves along your story without effort. A bad sentence can break this flow like rocks sticking up in a running river. The best way to check the flow of your story is to read it aloud to yourself. If your tongue snags on a sentence and it doesn't feel write alter the wording to match the flow.  Here is an example from my book Ebon Moon: 

Reaching the pole he erected the day before, Jasper stopped to catch his breath. The sun beat warm upon his brow, and he wiped sweat away with the sleeve of his grimy work shirt. He took a moment to look back over the farm he worked for the last fifty years. The clouds broke the sunlight to cast shifting shadows over the rusting tractor, the overgrown fields, and the peeling paint of the house and barn. When Emma was alive, golden wheat fields surrounded the property. The farm died when Satan murdered his beloved wife. Its only crop now was the signs he made.

I hope you found my tips on writing useful. Now get out there and write. You can check out more about my writing and books at dennismcdonaldauthor.com